Department for Exiting the European Union

BILATERAL VOTING RIGHTS

Mr Robin Walker: Today, I can confirm that the Government has reached a reciprocal agreement with Portugal that will secure the rights of UK nationals living in Portugal, and Portuguese citizens living in the UK, to stand and vote in local elections in both a deal and no deal. This agreement builds on our centuries of close ties with Portugal, dating back to the Anglo-Portuguese agreement in 1373, and is a welcome step towards our continuing close future relationship.Citizens, including protecting the interests of British expats, have always been our priority in the negotiations for our departure from the EU. The UK pushed hard in negotiations to protect the right to stand and vote in local elections for UK nationals living in the EU, and EU citizens in the UK, but these rights were not included in the Withdrawal Agreement. Instead, we have been pursuing bilateral arrangements with individual Member States to secure these rights on a bilateral basis. We have been clear that allowing EU citizens to vote in local elections in the UK should be considered alongside the rights and interests of UK nationals and it has been our priority to secure these reciprocally.We have now reached agreements with Spain and Portugal and we are continuing our discussions with other Member States.I will be depositing the latest agreement in the libraries of both Houses.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Update: General Licences for Controlling Wild Birds

Dr Thérèse Coffey: On 4th May, Defra took on decision-making for the purposes covered by the general licences that had been revoked by Natural England on 25th April. An evidence-gathering exercise was then initiated in order to determine next steps which closed on 13th May.4378 responses were received, some of which were general opinions. 3952 responses were more specific and have provided a useful set of evidence and views. The majority of responses came from individuals or smaller businesses and organisations. 36 local and national organisations also responded, including conservation, animal welfare, pest control, farming, game keeping and land management organisations.The responses demonstrated a range of impacts that individuals and groups experienced as a result of Natural England’s revocation of licences GL04, 05 and 06. These include crow attacks on lambs and ewes during lambing, the risk of predation for eggs and fledglings of birds of conservation concern, and public health issues caused by pigeons in urban areas.We recognise the unintended consequences of Natural England’s decision on 23rd April and completely acknowledge the need to address this situation quickly. This is why we issued an urgent call for evidence so that we could assess the situation carefully.Next steps will be confirmed imminently following engagement with users and other interested stakeholders. A summary of the evidence and the government response will also be published shortly.We remain determined to ensure that we have a robust and effective licensing system in place.